It’s been good news for Waco ISD schools as 4 out of the 5 failing schools are off the state’s improvement required list. That’s still not stopping Waco ISD from creating an in-district charter system. Will Burney has more on Transformation Waco and what changes it’ll bring to schools.
At GW Carver Middle school’s “Meet the Principle” night, not much has visibly changed at the school over the sumeer. It’s the same building, some of the same teachers, but one thing stands out. Its new principle James Stewart.
“It’s crazy because I grew up in this neighborhood," Stewart said. "I grew up two blocks down the street. My parents graduated from here before desegregation I have a lot of ties I guess.” Even though Carver has now officially met state standard. Stewart is still pushing for more. “Now what things can we do that macadoo put in place and then build upon that and try to get to the next level” Stewart said. Even though the visible changes are small there has been a lot going on behind the scenes at Waco ISD to push schools grades even higher.
Over the summer, Transformation Waco has emerged out of Waco ISD’s partnership with Prosper Waco to help 5 failing schools. Even though 4 of the 5 schools have met state standards, the district is still moving forward with an in district charter system that they call the transformation zone. Schools inside the zone will see more services to help students and their parents.It’s the hope that schools in the zone can be pushed to the head of the district with the services the board hopes to provide.
“We’ve got a really good team of people on this board that are completely invested in these students and to take the next 2 years to take these schools from passing to excelling” said Iliana Newman. Newman is a member of the Transformation Waco board, and with her help they can bring health services directly into schools. “Lots of our children have issues with nutrition, they don’t eat the right kinds of foods or amount of foods. They can have problems with obesity, headaches, knee pain, back pain. We can try to get ahead of those problems by talking to them about healthy diet, nutrition exercise," Newman said.
Newman hopes that they can even bring in a mobile clinic to schools so that parents won’t have to take off work when their child needs a doctor’s appointment. “Lots of our patient’s parents work sometimes two full time jobs to make ends meet and when they miss work, they miss money,” Newman said.
Christy Perkins hopes to bring the parent perspective to the board. "It’s not just about the students here, we’ve got families. A lot of these kids are not as focused on academics because of family life," Perkins said. She has faith in her fellow board members to bring change, but she also has host of ideas she hopes to bring to the schools. “They have a big responsibility to hone in on what needs to be done but It’s a community effort, and it’s really about engaging everyone” Perkins said.
Perkins hopes to bring initiatives that can get parents more involved in the school. “A lot of parents don’t really understand how they can move into the school and have any involvement. I was heavily involved, but at the same time I didn’t really want to step on the teachers territory.” Perkins said.
It’s important to keep in mind that the board is still new. Its members are still defining roles and the specifics on the wrap around services that Transformation Waco will provide. It’s also unknown what happens to transformation Waco after the 2-year reprieve for state standards is over. However, Transformation Waco hopes that services pioneered in in the zone can become a model for other Waco ISD schools.